Large scale Diesel

[OldNoob]

Has Bachmann ever made a large scale diesel,, (aside from the little yard switcher) ?

[Bucksco]

Nope.

[charon]

Yes.
45 ton center cab switcher.  Excellent detail and running.  I have 3.
Chuck

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Yes Chuck is right Bachmann did make a 45 ton Center cab, Yardmaster probably forgot about it.

Here is a list, they came out in 2003:

MQ&M Co   None   2003   ~ Loco   GE 45 ton, Midwest Quarry & Mining Co.
AT&SF   None   2003   ~ Loco   GE 45 ton, Santa Fe
None   None   2003   ~ Loco   GE 45 ton, painted, unlettered
None   None   2003   ~ Loco   GE 45 ton, painted, unlettered

Here is one I converted into a box cab, it runs like a sewing machine and I added and alco sound board and burbles along very nicely.  The side rod motion is also a plus and the look great rolling along.


Here is one of the catalog pictures showing how they looked from the factory:


They were not a good seller and no new runs were produced which is not surprising since most Bachmann Large scale fans are steam diehards.   They only had one problem in that power from the trucks went thru springs to the main chassis electric board and sometimes in a derailment when a short occured the springs would overheat and burn up.  If this happened then the loco would not run or one of the trucks would not run.   I had it happen to one of mine and so bypassed the springs using wire and the unit has performed perfectly ever since.  I was and still am a fan of these nicely detailed Locos.

They do show up on Ebay from time to time.
Happy hunting!
Loco Bill

[JerryB]

Further on the 45 tonner:

We have a museum operation in the San Francisco East Bay Area, the Niles Canyon Railway that has a couple of examples of the prototypes of these Bachmann models. When the models first came out, I bought a couple and was able to measure the prototypes at Niles Canyon.

The dimensions of the model were prefect when compared to the prototype.

And, they run great!!

Happy RRing,

Jerry

[Bucksco]

(aside from the little yard switcher)

[Greg Elmassian]

and the scale is 1:20.3?

[charon]

Correct, Greg.
Chuck

[JerryB]

Yes Greg: The scale is definitely 1:20.3. All major dimensions were within a fraction of the prototype.

I am really surprised that Bachmann denies the existence of these models! I still have the original boxes, and they are definitely Bachmann, and 1:20.3.

I am moving to a smaller (On30) indoor scale and will probably sell most of my 1:20 stuff in the near future, but still really like these models!! They worked well on my industrial short line.

[Greg Elmassian]

Clearly that was not meant to be denial, he probably just forgot.

Greg

[Kevin Strong]

And it's Big! The prototype (if I recall correctly) was an industrial switcher offered in multiple gauges from standard gauge down to 3'; so the model is essentially a standard-gauge diesel riding on narrow gauge trucks. There was an outfit at one point offering conversion trucks to make it 1:20.3 standard gauge--70.64mm. I've seen photos--it looks great with a proper 1:20 standard gauge box car behind it.

I narrowed mine and lowered the hoods to bring it more in line with the overall size of my narrow gauge rolling stock.



Great-running loco! I put a QSI decoder in it, with two speakers and dual prime mover sounds--each mapped to the individual speakers under each hood. Sounds fantastic!

Later,

K

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Kevin,

Looks great.  Your usual masterful job of modifying things!!

Best,

Bill